Local investors acquire Class-A office building near Blair LRT station for $12 million

A group of local investors acquired an office complex at 1900 City Park Drive near the Blair LRT station for $12 million on September 4. The buyers, an entity identified as 1900 City Park GP Inc., have not been publicly named.

Colonnade BridgePort CEO Hugh Gorman described the new owners as a "group of local buyers" and said they are "believers in where the market is ultimately going," noting that "it feels like we're at the bottom of the office market trough and working our way out of the other side, and they see significant opportunity."

The five-storey, 93,200-square-foot building is currently 81.4 per cent occupied with an average weighted lease term of 6.8 years, according to Avison Young, which brokered the sale. Key tenants include co-working space provider TCC Canada, which occupies a full floor.

Colonnade BridgePort had purchased the building and four adjacent acres from QuadReal Property Group three-and-a-half years earlier for $20 million. When Colonnade acquired the building, it was about 20 per cent occupied. Gorman said the company's intent was to "spruce it up a bit, get a little bit of leasing done" and then sell it.

Colonnade BridgePort now intends to develop the adjacent four-acre parcel. Its proposal calls for five residential towers ranging from 12 to 30 storeys containing approximately 1,200 units. As HighOnCity reported in September, Colonnade filed for the residential development near the Blair station. Gorman said the site's proximity to major government employers including the National Research Council and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, plus the Gloucester Centre mall, make it ideal for residential densification.